


The Once and Future Family

by superqueerdanvers



Category: Once & Future Series – Amy Rose Capetta & Cory McCarthy
Genre: (but weird bc of magic time shenanigans), Family Feels, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Unconventional Families, post-Sword in the Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24704080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superqueerdanvers/pseuds/superqueerdanvers
Summary: The first time Merlin called Ari Mom, it was a joke.
Relationships: Ara Azar & Merlin (Once & Future)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	The Once and Future Family

The first time Merlin called Ari Mom, it was a joke.

He’d been about to time-hop to the early twenty-first century to pick up some things for the library – DVDs of a TV show about him and the first Arthur, and some books about lady knights he thought Ari and Jordan would like – and Ari told him to be careful. “Okay, _Mom_ ,” he had teased.

Then he froze. Somehow, in the years he’d spent watching Nimue, the months since he, Ari, and Gwen had reunited and broken the cycle, he’d never really thought of Ari as his mother. He knew intellectually that she and Gwen and Kay were his parents, of course. And he did love her and think of her as family.

But he had thought of her as family in the sense of found family, friends so close the lack of biological relationship didn’t matter. They had done and been through so much together, how could they not be family? And that was true; he and Ari were friends, and they had done and been through a lot together. But it also wasn’t the full extent of their relationship.

Before he was even born, Ari and Gwen had loved and protected him. They had traveled thousands of years into the past to keep him away from Mercer, then walked all the way to Avalon to protect his infant self from his older self – gods, his timeline was weird. Ari had carried Gwen for the last stretch, had held her in her arms as she gave birth, had caught Merlin as he was born and lifted him out of the lake water. And then, when it was clear they could hide in Camelot no longer, Ari and Gwen had made the decision to give him up rather than bring him within Mercer’s reach. And Ari had taken Nin’s deal, sacrificing herself to free Arthur and return to the future without using Merlin’s power and de-aging him even more.

Merlin had woken up in that cave alone, and he had spent thousands of years with no knowledge of his past or his origins. All that time, he thought he was alone except for the Lady of the Lake, the bitter sorceress, and the king he couldn’t save. But he wasn’t alone. He had a family, even if they wouldn’t be born for millennia, and they loved him. He looked at Ari, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

She was giving him a funny look. “Uh… Merlin? Are you okay?”

He stared at her. “You’re my mom.”

“Yeah?”

He smiled and wiped at his eyes. “I’ve never had a mom before.”

Ari pulled him into a hug. He felt tears drip onto his shoulder as she whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry we couldn’t be there for you –“

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said softly. “It was Mercer’s fault, and Nin’s. And the unfortunate rules of time travel.”

“Still…” Ari protested, but Merlin just squeezed her tighter.

They stayed like that for a minute, just holding each other and crying into each other’s shoulders. Then Merlin spoke up. “Can I call you Mom?”

Ari pulled back enough to meet his eyes. She smiled. “Yeah.” She wiped her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, you can call me Mom.”

He hugged her tight. “I love you, Mom.”

She hugged back. “I love you, Kai.”

The first time Merlin called Ari Mom, it was a joke, but it didn’t stay a joke.


End file.
